Dickens is describing a row of houses, and speaks of some
"with hatchments always up". I thought it might be something like a hinged skylight, or fire escape onto a roof. So I was glad to find a new architecture glossary:
"
Hatchment
A diamond-shaped board bearing the coat of arms of a deceased "

I don't know what it means for a house to have a hatchment.

I've only ever seen them in churches. Many churches have one from about 1800, 1820 with the royal coat of arms. Only in a few cases do you see a real heraldic hatchment as a memorial to someone deceased. Usually these are on the north or south wall, whereas the royal arms are on the west wall under the bell tower.

They're quite large. The background is black. The arms are painted upon it.

Dickens was describing a street where wealthy people lived.
So it would be likely that some armigerous families lived there, and were proud to display the hatchments.
Incidentally, it is called Harley Street, where in recent times many top medical specialists had their offices.

Aha, found how they were used. They were placed outside the person's house for the twelve months of mourning, and only then transferred to the church. As the custom died out in the nineteenth century, now we only ever see them in churches.

The arms were painted on a diamond-shaped board with a black background for a single or widowed person. For someone leaving a relict, it was half black and half white, black behind the dead person's half of the arms and white behind the survivor's.

from Encarta:

rel·ict
noun (plural rel·icts)
1. geology remnant of preexisting formation: a remnant of a preexisting land or rock formation left behind after a destructive event has taken place

2. geology mineral unaltered by metamorphism: a mineral that did not change when the rock in which it occurs underwent metamorphosis

3. biology surviving species: a species of organism surviving long after the extinction of related species, or a once widespread natural population surviving only in isolated localities because of environmental changes

4. widow: the widow of somebody ( archaic )

never heard that word before.

Some people take offence at being described as their spouse's relic. Can't think why.

Bingley

To me "relict" suggests something the deceased did not wish to take with him to the hereafter.

I've noticed that, in general these days, relict seems to be used for the spouse left behind, while relic is used for the anything left behind.

Seems like the distinctions that has arisen between regime and regimen.

cheer

the sunshine warrior